splendid > reviews > 6/28/2002

Kitty Brazelton is a record clerk's nightmare.
I mean, where to put her? Picture a poor, goateed soul wandering through the bins
with Chamber Music for the Inner Ear. He stops distractedly at contemporary classical
(after all it's chamber music, right?), moves briefly to free jazz (well, I did
hear some muted Miles-style trumpet), pauses at Latin ("Sonar Como Una Tromba
Larga)", and ponders new age (that "R" song sure has some spooky vocals) before
tossing it on the counter and going out back to smoke a joint.

Really, the only
solution is to put the disc on the in-store stereo and leave it there until somebody
buys it. I'd give it three or four tracks; Chamber Music for the Inner Ear may
be unclassifiable, but it's also instantly engrossing.

It starts off with the
brass-toned splendor of "Come Spring!", a four-movement suite performed by the
Manhattan Brass Quintet. Understand right now that this is not about a hearts
and flowers image of spring. Rather, it's a tribute to the unstoppable life force
that potholes roads and breaks boulders, the sap that comes from deep in the ground
and sets all hell loose round about April. Movement one, "Dogwood petals and hormones",
begins with slow brass chords that twist into shattering discord. A skittering
trumpet flutters against walking quarter notes of the lower sounds. Dulcet trombone
picks out the bright tones, as a tuba buzzes like the million insects creeping
from the ground. There's a rich, sexual energy to all these chords that builds
throughout the piece. The second movement, "Miles Through the Upstairs Window",
steps back a bit, leading off with single querying notes -- French horn, I think
-- separated by silence. The notes come closer together, merging in a quick pattern.
The trumpet flirts with the tuba, pulling back where the deeper sounds flourish
in a syncopated rhythm. The third movement, "Harmonic Fable", has a swingier feel
to it, with a bouncy trumpet line over a Gregorian hymn. The piece ends with "First
Second Seder at the Knitting Factory", a tribute to the Manhattan club's "Second
Seder" feasts, which brought musicians from a variety of disciplines together
in jazz improvisation.

At this point, you'll be saying, "I've got it. It's modern,
jazz-tinged classical with a heavy reliance on brass." Perhaps...but what will
you make of "R", a swooning piece that blends unearthly wordless vocals, vaguely
Middle Eastern rhythms and mesmerizing violins? It's followed by "Sonar Como Una
Tromba Larga", featuring Chris Washburne on trombone. The track opens with a high
hanging tone, which, the liner notes say, is an electronically manipulated sample
of Washburne's breath. Slow, perfect trombone notes blend with this echoing backdrop
in an eerie duet of Washburne and Washburne. Midway through the piece a rhythmic
cadence begins, incorporating metallic clinks and rattles. Against this Latin
slink, the trombone slides like a heavy sensual arm around the quick, dancing
percussion.

The interplay of mind and body -- of thoughtful abstraction and sexual
pulse -- runs all through Chamber Music. You can hear it very clearly on "Called
Out Ol' Texas"; the title is an anagram for "alto sax cello duet", exactly what
this piece is, and although it's not a common pairing, the two sounds work well
together. The alto sax lends modern angst to the sweet murmurs of the cello, and
then, as the cello turns to anxious quick bowing, the sax picks up the high line
of melody. The piece is never entirely without conventional beauty -- nor without
the rougher sounds that comment upon it.

So who is this Kitty Brazelton? She's a serious,
well-regarded contemporary composer and a professor at Columbia. She's a rock
chick, too -- a veteran of bands like Musica Orbis, which pioneered the genre
of acid plainchant; Hide the Babies, a heavy metal group; and the nine-piece
"rockestra" Dadadah. In other words, if you think it's hard to categorize
Chamber Music for the Inner Ear, try fitting its author into a box. It would
be damn near impossible, and anyway, it would probably just make her mad.
So what to do? Give up on classifying this record, and just experience it.
It's all you need to know. -- Jennifer Kelly